Gas and oil well production efficiency can depend on various well parameters such as depth and natural well gas pressure. Fluid comprising salt water and oil may accumulate during production in a well bottom. Its presence and buildup within the well can inhibit production and, accordingly, should be removed. Operators may use a technique such as plunger lift to unload the fluid buildup and thus increase the productivity of oil and gas wells.
A plunger system is a method of unloading gas wells and high gas/liquid ratio hydrocarbon wells without interrupting production. In operation, the plunger travels to the bottom of the well where the fluid is picked up by the plunger, acting as a swab, and is brought to the surface removing liquids in the tubing. A plunger also keeps the tubing free of paraffin, salt or scale build-up. Fluid removal prevents well loading, and thus keeps the well from “dying.” This type of system utilizes gas present within the well as a system driver.
A well system manager (hereinafter also referred to as an operator) may have many wells under its supervision. Although in some cases, an individual may be present at a well site, the present apparatus contemplates a reduction of manpower needed to monitor and service the system. Any one or more of these multiple wells may utilize a plunger lift system. A multiple well facility is generally known as a location where more than one well and/or associated production equipment are located, where some or all production equipment is shared by more than one well, or where wellstreams from more than one well are routed through individual production trains located at the same or contiguous and adjacent location. Rather than install separate facilities for each well, well system managers seek to combine or “share” stock tank storage, meter runs, separation facilities and/or compressor stations. In addition to the complexity of managing multiple individual wells each potentially owned by a different investor, the sharing of production equipment could create a number of challenges for a well system manager. Some challenges could include ensuring accurate allocation measurements and minimizing occurrences that could lead to “bottlenecking”. In addition, operators are challenged to ensure that each well (and its associated investor) has a fair opportunity to produce for a period of time.
Inaccuracies in allocating gas to an appropriate investor and/or the non-production of a well could have detrimental and costly effects. Bottlenecking can result in under-utilization of shared facilities and/or exceedances. A flow cycle comprises the time a well is turned on to the time it is turned off. Former practices often involved synchronizing multiple wells by having an operator gauge each well's production by physically and tediously recording each cycle time. In addition, mechanized synchronization centered on time-based algorithms that operated on individual controllers with no common link, requiring the well operator to continue to ensure no overlapping of wells. In some cases, because of asymmetrical production rates, the production rate of one well may impede that of its neighboring wells. Without a balanced synchronization, routine inconsistencies encountered by a well system manager during production, such as pressure buildups, pipeline pressures, non-arrival of plungers, etc., can create unnecessary downtime and loss of production. In addition, asymmetrical production from a group of wells can cause the weaker wells to stay off. To enhance and/or optimize efficiency of a multiple well facility, a well system manager may desire a method of controlling and analyzing multiple well data and multiple plungers. The present apparatus can provide multi-well control and product management by means of a master controller and allows for a more balanced synchronization of wells and well cycle times.